State releases basketball playoff pairings

Random draw determines which schools face off in opening round of region tournaments

by Gazette staff

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association released its playoff pairings for the high school basketball playoffs on Sunday.

The top four seeds in each region are awarded based on team’s performances during the regular season. After that, however, it is left to a random draw, which was held Sunday morning.

The randomness usually leads to some intriguing first-round games.

For example, two of the stronger boys teams in the Prince George’s County 3A/2A/1A League face off in the first round. Central (13-7), which earned a top four seed, plays host to Largo (12-9) in the first round of the 2A South Region tournament. Those two teams finished second and third in the league standings behind Potomac, which was awarded the top seed in the 3A South Region.

Girls games are scheduled to begin Friday. Boys games are scheduled to begin on Feb. 26. State championship games are planned for March 16.